Concrete distributing apparatus



March 16, 1937.y A. P. RoBlNsoN ET A1. 2,074,073

CONCRETE DI STRIBUTING APPARATUS INVENTORS.

Patented Mar. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONCRETE DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS Application October 22, 1936, Serial No. 106,970

12 Claims.

The improvements relate to machines for mixing and distributing concrete and the like and more particularly to mechanism of the boom and bucket type for receiving concrete from the mixing drum, conveying it and depositing it upon a roadway or the like Where it is toy be placed, and their objects are primarily to improve the construction, operation and efliciency of mechanism of this character.

In the ordinary concrete paving machines there is a boom of considerable length supported by cables from the frame of the machine in which the mixing drum is mounted, and this boom provides a track on which the distributing 16 buckets run to and from the mixer to receive and convey to points distant from. the mixer the mixed concrete and dump it at convenientl points, where it is spread and formed into a pavement by Workmen. The boom is pivotallyrmounted 20 on the frame of the machine adjacent the discharge spout of the mixer so that it can be swung laterally to bring its outer part and the bucket thereon to different points from side to side of a road grade being paved, and the bucket is provided with means for propelling it along the boom in both directions and for tripping its bottom door at any desired point along the boom and causing it to deposit its load of mixed concrete at that point. All these features are old and Well known in the art and are commonly employed. They, therefore, need not be further described.

The tendency in recent times is to increase the capacity of the mixing drum, so that large batches of concrete can be mixed therein and discharged therefrom and the Work `thus expedited. This requires larger and heavier buckets and an increase in the load carried by the boom. The Weight of this load will be under- ,4 0 stood when it is pointed out that a cubic yard of concrete Weighs 'approximately two tons and that machines with a capacity in excess of one cubic yard per batch can be'employed to advantage. This load has a tendency to tilt the mixer frame and the mixer and even to overturn it, when a loaded bucket is run out to or near the end of the boom, and this gives rise to .danger vof causing damage to the paving machine and disturbing the operation of the mixing drum.

As a yard of concrete contains 27 cubic feet it will also be apparent that when a co-ncrete pavel ment of 8 inches or less is being laid the Vconcrete must be spread over a considerable area, which involves a great deal of manual labor in spread- 5 5 ing and placinglt properly on the grade. For

these reasons, among others, it is desirable to reduce the load of veach bucket to a minimum; but the efficient and economical operation of the machine requires that the full batch of the drum shall be discharged in one operation, so that it 6 can be immediately recharged, and the mixing carried on while the concrete is being distributed.

It is to overcome the objections indicated and at the same time maintain the full capacity of the mixing drum that the present improvements 10 are primarily designed.

The improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, referred to herein, and in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an illustrative em- 15 bodiment of the improvements;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the boom construction;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the boom and buckets thereon;

Fig. 4 is a plan of the inner end of the boom 20 and the buckets thereon in charging position.

As shown in the drawings, the improvements comprise a pair of buckets which are preferably of substantially identical construction, but arranged to be operated independently, and a boom 25 consisting of two longitudinal lengthwise sections secured together and operating as a single boom. The buckets are loaded by being presented together at the discharge spout, and the batch of concrete is divided evenly between them as it 30 comes from the discharge chute, so that each bucket Will receive half the batch, a deflector or spreader dividing the batch as it is discharged from the chute. One of the buckets may then be drawn out on the boom and discharged or 35 both may be discharged at the same time, and at the same or different points on the boom. When they are propelled to the dumping point and discharged separately the boom may be swung laterally after one bucket is discharged and be- 40 fore the other is moved to discharging point, so that the batch may be deposited on the grade at tWo pointsspaced from each other longitudinally or laterally, or in both directions, and a large part of the'manual work of spreading and plac- 45 ing the batch thus dispensed with. Any and all of these operations may be performed while another batch is being mixed in the drum and the buckets returned to charging position when the mixer is ready to be discharged. It will be seen 5o also that by running the buckets out on the boom separately, to be dumped at the same or diiferent points, the load carried by the boom vand the consequent stress on the boom supporting cables and the frame of the machine is re- A duced by approximately half the weight of the batch, and that the flrst bucket dumped may be returned before the second loaded bucket is run out on the boom. If desired, however, the buckets may be so connected for operation that one bucket will be run out as the other returns, automatically and the individual control of the buckets by the operator thus eliminated. Various other modifications of the construction and arrangement and the method of operating' may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. l

In the drawings the buckets I and 2 are shown suspended from the boom tracks by carriages 3, traveling on rollers 4. The buckets have the usual bottom dump doors 5, which may be operated in any desired manner, and they may be propelled outwardly and inwardly by any suitable cable arrangement, as for example, by the cables 6 and 'I attached to the carriage. Satisfactory bucket operating means are shown in Patent No. 1,738,012 of December 3, 1929, to Lukachovic, but any other suitable operating means may be employed. The inner ends of the buckets are curved so that when the two are in position under the discharge spout their ends will together form substantially a half circle with only a narrow space between them (Fig. 3) and this space is covered by a deflector or divider to prevent concrete falling between them.

The boom proper consists essentially of the channels 8, 8 on one side, the channels 9, 9' on the other side connected and secured rigidly by the cross plates Ill, It to which their upper flanges are riveted, the said cross plates being located at the ends of the channels and at intermediate points to give suiicient strength and rigidity. The boom is pivotally supported by means of a cable II-running through a sheave I2 mounted on a bracket I3 secured to a cross plate ID, the opposite end of the cable running through a. sheave I4 on bracket i5 mounted on the top of the mixer frame i6. The bottom flanges of the channels provide tracks for the traction rollers 4 of the bucket carriages and each pair of channels is secured together and positioned by cross members I1 at intervals riveted to the lower portions thereof. The lower discharge chute I8 for the mixing drum is fixed to the frame I6 and has supported on a bracket I9 depending therefrom an inverted V-shaped deflector, spreader and divider 29, which extends over the narrow space between the charge receiving ends of the twin buckets I and 2 and divides and deiects the concrete discharged from the spout I8 so that each bucket will receive approximately onehalf of each batch, and none of the concrete discharged by the spout can fall in between the buckets. This deector may, if desired, be suspended from the end of the boom, and its particular shape and proportions may be varied so long as it performs its functions properly. As shown it will act in the manner describedwith accuracy when the boom is in a position substantially normal to the mixer, but if suspended from the end of the boom, so that it will always be in the same position relative to the buckets when in charging position but will vary its position with respect to the spout to some extent when the boom is not in such normal position, it should be shaped to split the concrete discharged by the spout and divide it equally in all positions. An equivalent of this deflector, divider and spreader is a construction in which the discharge spout itself is divided, so that the batch discharged therethrough will be divided before it is dis charged and one-half of each batch thus discharged into each bucket without danger of spilling.

The boom is pivotally supported in the bracket 2I projecting from the mixer frame and is hingedly connected with the part 22 depending fromthe swivel post 24 in the said bracket so that it may be moved up and down at its outer end to a certain extent. Rotary motion in a horizontal plane is imparted tothe boom in the usual manner through the swing gear 23 fixed to the swivel post.

What we claim is:

1. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom pivotally mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom, means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom separately toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive each a part of the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for diverting the charge passing through said device into two buckets simultaneously.

2. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom pivotally mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom, means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for diverting the charge passing through said device into two buckets simultaneously and away from the space between said buckets.

3. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom pivotally mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom, means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for diverting the charge passing through said device into two buckets simultaneously, comprising a member spreading in the direction of the discharge movement and located between the mixer and the buckets.

4. In concrete distributing apparatus a batch mixer, a batch discharge device therefor, a boom movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom, means for propelling said buckets separately and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device, and to a position to receive each a part and together the entire batch of the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with'said device and located in proximity to said buckets when Ain charge receiving position for diverting the batch passing through said device into a plurality of buckets simultaneously.

5.Y In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of receiving and conveying buckets mounted to travel on said boom, means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive collectively and simultaneously the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said vdevice and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for diverting the charge passing through said device into both buckets simultaneously and away from the space between said buckets.

6.1In concrete distributing apparatus, a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom, separate means for propelling each of said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive simultaneously each a part of the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for diverting the charge passing through said device into two buckets simultaneously.

7. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom said boom comprising a plurality of track members one for each bucket and secured together, a plurality of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom, separate means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on the track members of said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive collectively the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for diverting the charge passing through said device into both buckets simultaneously and away from the space between said buckets.

8. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom movably mountedadjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of separate receiving and conveying buckets separately mounted on said boom, means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom to- Ward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive collectively and simultaneously the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in the path of discharge when said buckets are in charge receiving position for directing into two buckets simultaneously the charge passing through said device, comprising a member spreading in the directionk of the discharge movement and located between the mixer and the buckets but normally unattached to said buckets. Y

9. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer,

:a discharge device therefor, a boom movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of separate receiving and conveying buckets separately mounted on said boom, means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive collectively and simultaneously the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in the path of discharge when said buckets are in charge receiving position for directing into two buckets simultaneously the charge passing through said device, comprising a member spreading in the direction of the discharge movement and located between the mixer and the buckets but normally unattached to said buckets, said directing means being connected with said discharge device.

10. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixi er, a discharge device therefor, a boom movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a plurality of separate receiving and conveying buckets separately mounted on said boom, means for propelling said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive collectively and simultaneously the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in the path of discharge when said buckets are in charge receiving position for directing into two buckets simultaneously the charge passing through said device, comprising a member spreading in the direction of the discharge movement and located between the mixer and the buckets but normally unattached to said buckets, said directing means extending beyond the adjacent edges of the buckets.

l1. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boomV movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom, a pair of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom and having their opposed sides substantially parallel and in proximity to each other, separate means for propelling each of said buckets and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive simultaneously each a part of the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for diverting the charge passing through said device into two buckets simultaneously.

12. In concrete distributing apparatus a mixer, a discharge device therefor, a boom movably mounted adjacent said discharge device and extending therefrom comprising a pair of individual track members, a pair of receiving and conveying buckets mounted on said boom, one for each track member, means for propelling said buckets individually and in unison and causing them to travel on said boom toward and from said discharge device and to a position to receive the concrete discharged by the latter and means associated with said device and located in proximity to said buckets when in charge receiving position for directing the charge passing through said device into two buckets simultaneously.

ARTHUR P. ROBINSON. J OI-IN P. FABER. 

